Born To Be Wild

THIRTY-ONE

She grinned over at him. “Making money is fun, it makes me feel worthwhile, but I know it can’t last forever. If an actor gets caught up in thinking he’s the greatest thing in the universe, he’s in for trouble. And that’s why I stay with my circle of friends and try not to get drawn into all the ridiculous hype.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “So you think it won’t last? Your extreme popularity in this soap?”

She patted the dashboard. “Who knows? Truth be told, I’d rather drive Buffy than buy a thousand Manolo Blahniks.”

He raised an eyebrow as he climbed in and closed the door. She laughed. “Okay, Blahnik designs the coolest shoes in the universe. And hey, Buffy’s bright red keeps me awake.” Once both of them had fastened their seat belts, she turned the key. “I got her from Chris Rock after I met him in a greenroom for some show we were both on. He said his wife didn’t like the red, and so he gave me a good price.”

He’d heard of Chris Rock, naturally, and she’d spoken about him so naturally. He said, shaking his head, “No, Mary Lisa, your life is very different from mine. The last time I saw Chris Rock, we did not interact. He was behind the TV screen.”

She laughed. “The thing is, Chris agrees with me-if you count on anything in this town, you’re setting yourself up for a big punch in the mouth.”

“But you’re in a lucky situation, aren’t you? Some of the soap opera stars keep their roles for years and years.”

“Yep, like Kay Chancellor and Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless. We’ll see. Maybe something else will come along or maybe it won’t. Right now, I’m having a ball. And I know I’m lucky. Hey, I’ll take you to lunch at Alfredo’s, over in Santa Monica.”

“I like Italian.”

“Hmm, well, it’s not exactly Italian.”

What it was, Jack discovered twenty minutes later, was a fish and chips dive right across the street from the ocean, at the base of the long pier. He looked out to see at least fifty half-naked girls sprawled out on the sand for as far as the eye could see, guys in low-slung shorts trailing about, trying not to look too obvious about eyeing all the beautiful young bodies.

“This is never-never land,” he said as he added some more vinegar to his French fries.

“A guy’s fantasy life can be in full bloom here, that’s for sure.” She was contemplating a French fry. “This is my caloric meal for the week, so excuse me a moment, I’m connecting to my fat content.”

He watched her eat a moment, savoring each vinegar-drenched French fry, then locking in on the deep-fried haddock. “I tell myself it’s okay because it’s fish. What do you think?”

“Self-deception isn’t always a bad thing.”

She chewed for a long time, finally swallowed, and laughed. “Have you always wanted to be a cop? Are you having fun with your choice right now?”

He stared at her a moment. “Usually I don’t think about it, but yeah, I always wanted to be a cop. My grandfather was a Chicago detective. He was the finest man I ever knew. I wanted to be like him. And I wanted local, not FBI.” He ate another French fry, then looked at her thoughtfully. “I think I’m well suited to what I do. Yeah, I enjoy it.”

What about his father, she wondered. She said, smiling at him, “Good. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Oh yes, I heard from John. I hope he’s decided not to come down.”

The current French fry stopped two inches from Jack’s mouth. “John said he was coming down here? Why?”

“I believe he said something like it was time for the big gun to take over.”

Jack laughed. “Pitty Pat does fine with crooks after they’re all cleaned up, in shackles, and have a guard on either side.”

“Pitty Pat?”

“Yeah.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll have to ask him.”

“What does John call you?”

“Goon Leader.”

“I thought you two got along really well.”

“As a matter of fact he’s my best friend, but he shouldn’t be down here, it would just muddy the water.”

“Seems to me there’s plenty of mud already.”

“Excuse me a second.” Jack pushed away from the table, pulled out his cell phone, and walked away.

Mary Lisa pulled out her own cell phone. After two rings, a man answered. “Yeah, Chico here.”

“Chico? It’s Mary Lisa Beverly. Can I see you this afternoon, say in thirty minutes?”

Silence, then: “Make it an hour. Now listen to me. You’re gonna be real sore tonight, so plan to take a long hot tub and early to bed.”

“The hot tub’s a go, bed has to wait.”

“It’s your ass.” Chico hung up.

Jack walked back to the table. “When do you memorize your lines?”

“Usually when I’m in bed at night. And every morning I have at least two hours in makeup and wardrobe. I can memorize a whole scene in a pinch while Candy is doing my hair in the style du jour. I need to drop you off somewhere after lunch. I have an appointment.”

“Where?”

“One of the safest places in the land. You’ll know soon enough, but not now, so I need to drop you off. Where would you like to go?”

“I don’t want you by yourself. So I’ll take you to this appointment.”

“I swear I’ll be as safe as I was in the clink that night you locked me in. You didn’t even give me a blanket.”

“There weren’t any,” he said absently. “I’d ordered some, but they hadn’t come yet.” He didn’t like it, she could tell he didn’t, but she didn’t want to tell him where she was going, what she was doing, he’d just yell at her. He’d find out in good time. She grinned down at the half dozen limp French fries soaking in vinegar at the bottom of the cardboard box. She looked up to see the ocean breeze blowing black hair in his eyes. An impatient hand swiped it back. Big hands, long fingers, short filed nails. She was admiring his damned hands. She didn’t like this, she really didn’t. And now certainly wasn’t the time, not with fear curdling her belly whenever her mind snapped back to this crazy guy after her, which was about every five minutes. She cleared her throat. “I’m not being stupid here so no arguments. Lou Lou will catch a ride to where I am and go home with me. No, I’m not going to tell you where I’m going. Now then, where can I drop you?”

He didn’t look happy. Then he shrugged, popped the last French fry into his mouth, and said, “Lost Hills Station in Calabasas is fine. There’s some stuff I need to check out with Daniel. I called John. He was having a screaming match with Pat Bigelow in his office. Between that and my telling him I didn’t have a perp yet so he’d be about as helpful as a gerbil on a wheel, I don’t think he’ll be coming any time soon.”

“Why is lawyer Bigelow screaming at John?”

“Pat wants a new bail hearing. She’s claiming Milo’s health is suffering because of his leg wound. She wants him home. John handed her a photo of Milo doing his push-ups this morning.”

Mary Lisa laughed, a joyous sound, he thought, and for a moment, stared at her. She looked carefree, beautiful, and happy. Anyone who saw her wouldn’t believe she was dealing with fear every minute of her life. He admired her greatly in that moment. How very odd life was, he thought, and looked out at the ocean. How could anyone want to hurt her?

“What are you thinking? You look all sorts of serious.”

He looked back at her. “Do I? Maybe it’s because I was realizing that I really like your hair.”

She touched a finger to her tangling hair. “My hair?”

“Your dad was raving about you once-not to me, since I firmly believed you were a one-strike felon-but I’ll admit I was listening. He was talking about how you had the most beautiful hair he’d ever seen, his own mother’s hair, he said, only yours was a deeper red, and it was fuller, richer. Your dad thinks you walk on water.”

She paused a moment, rubbing her hands up and down the sides of her glass, and out of her mouth came, “If you take off those sunglasses of yours I’ll take off mine.”

He pulled off the aviator glasses.

She stared at him right in his dark blue eyes, narrowed against the bright sun. “Okay, tell me what you think, Jack.”

He reached across the narrow, battered wooden table, pulled off her 49ers cap, ran his fingers through her hair, then wrapped a thick curl around his finger. He leaned up and brought the hair to his cheek and rubbed it. He sat back, crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well?”

“Nah, your grandmother had fuller, richer hair. Softer too.”

“You can’t possibly know that!”

“I’m deducing it.”

She threw a French fry at him.

“I didn’t like you either,” she said. “I really didn’t. I didn’t think you ever smiled.”

He became very still.

“Jack-”

“You’re not going to let it go, are you?”

She shook her head.

“Truth is, maybe you were right. After I left Chicago, I guess I didn’t smile much, and-” He shook his head and concentrated on the last piece of fried haddock in the cardboard carton.

“I knew you were divorced. Why did you break up?”

He didn’t look like he was going to answer. She was on the point of retracting the question-impertinent, she knew, and really none of her business-when he said, “Rikki wanted kids and she wanted a father to be there for her kids. I wasn’t ready.”

“Why not?”

“I honestly didn’t know then, only that I kept telling her I wasn’t ready. I finally figured it out a while back. My dad wasn’t what you’d call a very moral character. He was never home, slept around on my mom, and treated us kids like we were an-imposition, like he wished we weren’t there, like we cramped his style. It drove my grandfather nuts but there was nothing he could do about it except try to be there when he could break free from his job.

“I guess I didn’t want to be the same way and knew if Rikki got pregnant I wouldn’t be there to be a father, and I’d see my grandfather’s face, staring at me like I was a loser.” He stopped suddenly, looked appalled at himself. Color stained his high cheekbones. “I can’t believe I said that. Forget it. It’s got to be the flaky air down here. Damn.”

Mary Lisa said thoughtfully, “Do you think your dad could take on my mom and win?”

He jerked back, the embarrassment fell off his face, and he grinned at her. “It would be some battle.”

She raised her soda glass and clicked it to his. “To parents. They never cease to amaze.”

“Hear, hear.”

She watched him take a bite of that last piece of haddock. “Did you love her?”

He wadded his paper napkin and threw it into the trash container. “That’s it, Mary Lisa. No more of this personal stuff, this damned relationship stuff that makes a man’s innards twist and bend. You women, what’s with you and all this gut-spilling crap anyway?”

And he got up, shoved his sunglasses back on, walked to her bright red Mustang, climbed into the passenger seat, and settled his head against the seat.

“It’s been three years, Jack, get over it.” She climbed into Buffy beside him. “It’s time you came back and enjoyed yourself a bit, don’t you think?” With me, maybe.

“Yeah? You mean like with you?”

Oh boy.

He hadn’t moved. She turned the key in the ignition, still didn’t look at him.

“What about John?”

Still not looking at him, she said, “John was off the table the minute I found out about Kelly’s feelings.”

He said nothing.

When she pulled up in front of the Lost Hills Station, Jack got out, then turned to look at her. “You be careful, you hear me? You promised me you weren’t stupid. I’m holding you to that. I’ll see you later.”

“At home,” she said.

He gave her an odd look. “Yeah,” he said, “at home. Along with half the population of Southern California. Why won’t you tell me where you’re off to?”

She shook her head, laughed, waved, and drove off.

She headed for Venice. She didn’t want to be late for Chico.